WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Department of Justice today announced the
settlement of a lawsuit alleging that the Muskogee, Oklahoma Public School
District had violated the constitutional rights of a sixth-grade Muslim girl
when it barred her from wearing a Muslim headscarf, or hijab. Under the
consent agreement signed by the parties, the school district will allow the
girl to wear the headscarf and will revise its student dress code policy to
accommodate exceptions for bona fide religious reasons.

“This settlement reaffirms the principle that public schools cannot require
students to check their faith at the school house door,” said R. Alexander
Acosta, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. “The Department of
Justice will not tolerate discrimination against Muslims or any other
religious group. As the President and the Attorney General have made clear
repeatedly, such intolerance is un-American, and is morally despicable.”

The Justice Department intervened in this case in March 2004, after an
investigation revealed that the school district prohibited the student,
Nashala Hearn, from wearing her hijab at Benjamin Franklin Science Academy, a
public middle school in Muskogee. The investigation further uncovered that
while Hearn was prohibited from wearing her hijab, the school district allowed
certain other students to wear head coverings for non-religious purposes.
During the 2003-04 school year, the school district twice suspended Nashala
Hearn for wearing the hijab. Later, she was permitted her to wear the hijab
pending the outcome of the suit.

The parties today signed a proposed consent decree, filed in U.S. District
Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, resolving the lawsuit. Under the
six-year agreement, which remains subject to court approval, the school
district will amend its dress code to permit head coverings for bona fide
religious reasons and will allow Hearn to wear her hijab while attending the
Muskogee Public Schools. The district will also implement a training program
for all teachers and administrators regarding the amended dress code,
publicize the revised dress code policy to students and parents and certify
its compliance with the terms of the order for a four-year period.

The Civil Rights Division is involved in a number of ongoing religious
liberty cases in schools and many other contexts. More information about these
cases may be found at www.usdoj.gov/crt/religdisc/religdisc.html.